Lottery is a form of gambling in which numbers are drawn at random to determine a winner. The winners receive a prize, usually money, but sometimes goods or services. The practice is generally regulated by governments, although some exceptions have been made. It has been around since ancient times; the Romans held lottery games, and Nero was a big fan. Lotteries are also commonly found in modern countries, and they are one of the most popular forms of gambling.
In the early American colonies, a number of lotteries were sanctioned to raise funds for a variety of public projects, including town fortifications and helping the poor. Benjamin Franklin held a lottery to finance cannons for the city’s defense in the American Revolution, and Thomas Jefferson sponsored one to alleviate his debts after his death.
The popularity of lottery games grew during the 1740s and 1750s, and the winnings were used to fund universities, canals, roads, and other infrastructure. Some of the earliest college buildings in America were constructed using lottery funds. For instance, Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth received portions of their original funding from a New York state lottery in the 1740s. Columbia University was founded in the same way.
As jackpots grew to ever-larger amounts, the odds of winning became smaller. To counter this, lottery organizers started lifting prize caps and adding more numbers—and thus, reducing the chances of winning—to keep jackpots rising. The resulting increase in the size of the average prize was intended to make the games appear more newsworthy and drive sales.
